The Lorax: Over-Harvesting

The last time I mentioned The Lorax  it was as a story to share for Earth Day.  I included some follow-up questions to get your students thinking about both the story and the world around them.   

If you're looking for an activity to use with the book, consider the over-harvesting challenge (first posted on March 30, 2010). 

Set up this activity to help students understand that sometimes humans take more natural resources than nature can produce.


Put students in groups of 2 or 3. You'll need 152 pretzel sticks for each group. The pretzel sticks represent trees/lumber

Within each group, you'll need someone to be the protector of the trees - he or she will 'plant' more trees each round. You'll also need someone to be the lumberjack, who 'cuts down' trees each round. If you have a third member of the group, he or she can record the data each round; if there are only two group memebrs, they can both record as the scenario plays out.

Begin with a 'forest' (pile) of 120 trees. Additionally, the protector will have a supply of 32 more trees

During each round, the following will happen...
- The protectors will 'plant' 4 trees from their source.
- The lumberjacks will double the number of trees they are 'cutting down' each round, starting with 1.
- The recorder records how many trees are left at the end of the round.


After explaining the scenario, but before beginning the actual process, ask students to guess how many rounds it will take before there are no natural resources left.

What can we do to protect our natural resources from over-harvesting?
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Here's a table you can set up to help your students record their data:

Natural Resources + Trees Added - Trees Consumed = Trees remaining

The first two rows of data should look like this:

120 + 4 - 1 = 123
123 + 4 - 2 = 125


You could also use Goldfish crackers for the activity - replace the lumberjacks with fishermen and you're all set!

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Natural Resources: The Geologists' Dilemma

You'll need four different types of driend beans for this activity.  I used:
 - black beans for coal (not pictured abbove)
 - kidney beans for oil
 - navy beans/black eyed peas for natural gas
 - lentils/peas for nuclear energy

You'll need about 100 pieces of coal, 74 units of oil, 20 units of natural gas and 6 units of nuclear energy.

Hide the beans throughout the classroom.  I tell students they won't need to open drawers or doors to find the beans, but they may have to look behind objects that are sitting out. 

Divide your class into four teams of geologists - each team will search for their own type of energy.

After showing the students what each type of energy looks like, send them into the field for one minute to find their respective energy. 

After the minute is over, have them come together as a team and count the energy they collected and record the data on the board. 

Then send them out for a second round of searching.  Count and record.  Then have a third round.  Count and record. 

Then discuss...
...which energy was easier to collect?  Why?
...which energy was difficult to collect?  Why?
...what can you deduce about the cost of each form of energy?
...what parallels can you draw between this activity and the harvesting of natural resources in real life? 

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This activity came from the Women in Mining website, however it appears that it is no longer featured on their list of activities.  But, while searching for non-existent link, I came across this activity, of the same name.  If you're not afraid of a little mess in your classroom, I think this would be fantastic to try.  I love the solar energy analogy - there's an abundant amount of it, but it's tricky (and rather expensive) to harvest.

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Renewable vs. Non-renewable Resources

You'll need two different types of dried beans/peas/lentils.  Pick two kinds that are distinctly different in appearance.  One type will represent coal, the other wind power. 

Before your class arrives, place about 100 of each bean around the room.  They don't need to be hidden, but they should be spread pretty far and wide.  I always tell the students that they don't need to open any drawers or doors to find the resources, but they may be behind something that's sitting out.

Divide your class into two teams.  One team will be the coal miners.  The other team will be the wind farmers.

Show the students what the "coal" looks like and what the units of "wind power" look like.

Send the teams into the field to look for their appointed resource.  Give them 30 seconds to find as much as they can.  When the 30 seconds are over, they should report back to their team headquarters with any resource they found.  While the teams are counting the resources they gathered, take a lap around the room adding some more of the wind power while you go.  After the counting is finished, have each team record the number of resources they collected on the front board.

Give the teams another 30 seconds to collect as much of their resource as they can.  Again, they'll return to their headquarters and count.  And again, you'll add more wind power to the supply. 

Repeat at least one more time (more if you wish).

At some point during the process, the students will notice you adding wind power.  They'll start to ask questions (especially the coal miners!) - I just shrug my shoulders and say we'll talk about it later.

At the end of the experience, the students will notice that the coal miners collected less coal with every round, while the wind farmers collected about the same amount of wind energy with every round. 

In my experience, this really helps young students (I've used it with 4th graders) get a feel for the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources and leads to some great discussions about the two.  And it's really fun! 

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This activity is based on something I found online one time.  I can't locate my paper, nor can I find it with a Google search.  If anyone's familiar with the original source, please let me know and I'll credit them properly.  I believe it came from an energy company.

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